The first swim of June felt like the last swim of March: damp air, grey skies and a cold headwind. There’s never a bad swim at Charlton Lido but the outdoor spin class and its terrible music does harsh the vibes of a relaxed evening swim a bit; like being in the front room of a really nice pub while a terrible disco goes off in the function room. But still, the swim worked its brain-settling magic eventually.

I saw the biggest flock of parakeets I’ve seen over Hornfair Park from the pool. Usually there are two or three circling around but tonight there were probably a dozen. They’re easily spotted: bright green against a grey sky.

Other things:

Good to hear a new song from Ryley Walker in advance of his new album. It didn’t grab me straightaway, but nor did his last album and that grew on me very quickly after a couple of listens.

 

My friend-from-off-of-The-Twitter, Niall McDiarmid has announced a well-deserved exhibition of his work, and is doing a print sale to support it. Buy yourself one, I say: http://www.niallmcdiarmid.com/exhibitions.php. I’m waiting until payday, though.

This Guardian long read on betting shops was very good and also very depressing.

My heart was cheered by this interview with The Handsome Family on Pete Paphides’ Soho Radio show. I wish I’d got round to booking tickets for their show at the 100 Club, though.